New research from NASA scientists
suggests emissions of black soot alter the way sunlight reflects off
snow. According to a computer simulation, black soot may be responsible
for 25 percent of observed global warming over the past century. (78KB
PDF file)

The ninth Conference of the
Parties (COP-9) to the United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange
(UNFCCC) and the nineteenth sessions of the COP's Subsidiary Body for
Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and Subsidiary Body for
Implementation (SBI) were held at the Fiera Milan Congress Center in
Milan, Italy, from 1-12 December 2003. (388KB PDF file)

Paula J. Dobriansky, Under
Secretary of State for Global Affairs: "Therefore it is our intention
to implement policies that will foster these technology-based solutions
-- that is the way we will address the challenge of global climate change.
Significantly, we also believe that climate change should not be pursued
in isolation, but should be handled as an integral part of a broad strategic
paradigm of sustainable development, which features a balanced mix of
environmentally sound, pro-economic growth policies. At the 2002 World
Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and at the COP-8 meeting
last year in New Delhi, we found strong and growing support for this
position among developing countries." (64KB PDF file)

Pursuant to Article 6 of
the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer under
the Auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the
Environmental Effects Assessment Panel reported that ozone depletion,
which caused increased surface ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation, consequently
affected living organisms and also materials. New studies had confirmed
and strengthened previous findings that UV-B radiation had serious adverse
effects on the skin, eyes and immune system. Also, interactions between
ozone depletion and climate change had environmental consequences, and
the Panel had warned that ultraviolet damage to phytoplankton and other
marine organisms might reduce the oceans' capacity as a sink for atmospheric
carbon dioxide and so increase global warming. (45KB PDF file)

The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that atmospheric concentrations
of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, have begun to level out after two
centuries of increases. Methane levels have been constant for four years
now, but scientists are not certain why the steady increases of the
gas in the atmosphere since the dawn of the industrial age have stopped.
One theory is that a decrease in fossil fuel production in the former
Soviet Union may account for the decline. About 70 percent of methane
emissions are connected with human activities -- the burning of fossil
fuels, intestinal gas from livestock and farm animals, and the cultivation
of rice paddies. (13KB PDF file)

Remarks by Secretary of Energy
Spencer Abraham: "The United States is today in the process of
implementing and enacting President Bush's far-reaching national energy
policy -- a policy that will help guarantee our nation's energy security
by ensuring supplies of dependable, affordable and environmentally sound
energy for the future..." (45KB PDF file)

U.S. officials say plans
are moving forward to create a system that links thousands of satellites,
aircraft and Earth-based monitoring stations around the globe to provide
more accurate predictions of climate change, crop production, disease
outbreaks and natural hazards. (33KB PDF file)

Harlan Watson, the U.S. senior
climate negotiator and special representative, praised India for its
cooperation with the United States in advancing the science and technology
of climate change. "Our bilateral partnership with India is particularly
important because it allows us to share experiences and knowledge to
advance climate change science and technology," Watson said in
a conference on U.S.-India Cooperation on Climate Change in New Delhi
November 11. (34KB PDF file)

As part of the President’s
National Climate Change Technology Initiative, launched on June 11,
2001, the President directed the Secretary of Energy, in coordination
with the Secretary of Commerce and the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, to lead a multi-agency review of the Federal R&D
portfolio and make recommendations. The Climate Change Technology Program
(CCTP) was established in 2002 to implement the President’s Initiative.
The CCTP is a multi-agency research and development (R&D) coordination
activity, organized under the auspices of the Cabinet-level Committee
on Climate Change Science and Technology Integration (CCCSTI). Participating
Federal agencies include the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, Commerce,
Defense, Health and Human Services, Interior, State, and Transportation,
as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation. (56KB
PDF file)

International representatives
will gather in New Delhi November 10-13 for the Climate Technology Bazaar
and workshops on how to anticipate or adjust to climate change. According
to a media note released by the U.S. State Department November 5, Harlan
L. Watson, the State Department's senior climate negotiator, will lead
the U.S. delegation to the bazaar, which will gather 120 national and
international exhibitors of "state of the art" climate-friendly
technologies, and about 5,000 visitors. (40KB PDF file)

A new study says that trade
wind dust transported from West Africa can have significant implications
for climate, atmospheric quality and public health in the Caribbean
and the southeastern United States. A November 7 press release says
results of the study, reported by researchers of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and published in the November
7 issue of the journal Science, show that trade wind dust transported
from West Africa to Barbados in the eastern Caribbean is strongly linked
to rainfall patterns in West Africa. The study says decreased rainfall
in Africa results in a sharp increase in dust transported across the
Atlantic the following year. (16KB PDF file)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is launching a campaign to encourage
farmers and other private landowners to adopt land management practices
that will store carbon and reduce greenhouse gases. The effort aims
to encourage farmers to help lessen global warming. In a June 6 press
release, the agency reports that its increased land conservation efforts
with a focus on carbon sequestration efforts will reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and sequester roughly 12 million tons of greenhouse gases
by 2012. (20KB PDF file)

This assessment deals with environmental effects of ozone depletion,
with special attention to the consequences of interactions between ozone
depletion and climate change. It was written by members of an international
panel, reviewed by scientists from a number of countries, and is based
on research performed by many more colleagues from a wide variety of
scientific disciplines.

The United States is helping finance a project in conjunction with
the World Bank's Global Environment Facility (GEF) to counter the destructive
effects of global warming in the Caribbean. The "Mainstreaming
Adaptation to Climate Change Project" will benefit 12 small island
and low-lying countries in the region, the Bank said in an April 18
statement. Those countries are: Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas,
Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts &
Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Trinidad and
Tobago. (14KB PDF file)

This fact sheet describes a broad range of domestic and international
actions that are underway that address the President's commitment to
reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of the American economy. (26KB PDF
file)

U.S. firms are creating trading programs to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. A growing number of U.S. corporations and states are taking
actions aimed at sharply reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases that trap heat within the Earth's atmosphere. (19KB
PDF file)

On 20 March 2003, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO) Godwin O.P. Obasi said all nations need to work together to prevent
and mitigate the adverse impact of climate-related events, such as floods,
droughts and tropical cyclones. (18KB PDF file)

U.S. officials have announced a public-private effort to construct
a prototype electric and hydrogen production plant and the formation
of a new international forum to advance carbon capture and storage technologies
as ways to reduce the world's heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions.
(18KB PDF file)

A February 12 Department of Energy fact sheet lists the initiatives
being undertaken by major business and industrial sectors of the U.S.
economy to meet President Bush's challenge to reduce America's greenhouse
gas intensity by 18 percent over the next decade. (23KB PDF file)

The integrated sequestration and hydrogen research initiative is a
$1 billion government/industry partnership to design, build and operate
a nearly emission-free, coal-fired electric and hydrogen production
plant. The 275-megawatt prototype plant will serve as a large-scale
engineering laboratory for testing new clean power, carbon capture,
and coal-to-hydrogen technologies. (392KB PDF file)

Climate VISION directly responds to President Bush's announcement
made nearly one year ago, Feb. 14, 2002, to address the long-term challenge
of global climate change. As part of this strategy, he committed to
reducing America's greenhouse gas intensity - the ratio of emissions
to economic output - by 18 percent during the next decade, and challenged
American businesses and industries to undertake broader efforts to help
meet that goal. Climate VISION is part of the global climate change
strategy to work with energy partners to meet the President's greenhouse
gas intensity goals. Climate VISION represents a beginning to seek greater
reductions and the participation of other industry sectors going forward.
(20KB PDF file)

This annual report is prepared by the US Department of Energy / Energy
Information Administration's Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting,
pursuant to requirements under Section 1605(a) of the Energy Policy
Act of 1992 (EPACT). Section 1605(a) of EPACT requires that the EIA,
"shall develop, based on data available to, and obtained by the
Energy Information Administration, an inventory of national aggregate
emissions of each greenhouse gas for each calendar year of the baseline
period of 1987 through 1990. The Administrator of the Energy Information
Administration shall annually update and analyze such inventory using
available data." The first report in this series, "Emissions
of Greenhouse Gases 1985-1990," was published in September 1993.
This report-the ninth annual report, as required by law, presents the
Energy Information Administrations' latest estimates of emissions of
carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases.
(77KB PDF file)

To advance and bring focus to short term objectives of climate change
science, the Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) was created by
the President in 2002. The budget proposed $40 million for CCRI in 2003,
and in 2004 this is increased by 355 percent to $182 million. The CCRI
investment will develop resources to support policy making, provide
computer resources for climate modeling for decision support studies,
and enhance observations and data management for a climate observing
system. (271KB PDF file)

To help foster a continued interaction, this component of the "Scientific
Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002" presents 20 questions and
answers about the often complex science of ozone depletion. The questions
address the nature of atmospheric ozone, the chemicals that cause ozone
depletion, how global and polar ozone depletion occur, and what could
lie ahead for the ozone layer. The answers are based on the information
presented in the 2002 and earlier Assessment reports. These reports
and the answers provided here were all prepared and reviewed by a large
international group of scientists. (2.1MB PDF file)

The United States and European Union identified cooperative research
activities in the six areas at the first bilateral “U.S.-EU Joint Meeting
on Climate Change Science and Technology Research” held in Washington
on February 5-6, 2003: (1) carbon cycle research; (2) aerosol -climate
interactions; (3) feedbacks, water vapor and thermohaline circulation;
(4) integrated observation systems and data; (5) carbon capture and
storage; and (6) hydrogen technology and infrastructure. Other non-greenhouse
gas emitting energy sources (e.g., nuclear energy, renewable energies),
although not discussed in detail, were mentioned as worthy for cooperation
in future discussions. (63KB PDF file)

An official multi-agency U.S. delegation in China released a statement
January 16 announcing that the United States and Chinese governments
have agreed to cooperate on a broad range of climate change science
and technology activities. According to the statement issued by the
U.S. side of the U.S.-China Working Group on Climate Change, the two
countries have identified 10 areas for cooperative research and analysis:
non-CO2 gases, adaptation strategies, economic/environmental modeling,
integrated assessment of potential consequences of climate change, hydrogen
and fuel cell technology, carbon capture and sequestration, observation/measurement,
institutional partnerships, energy/environment project follow-up to
the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), and existing clean
energy protocols/annexes. (26KB PDF file)

Dr. Mahoney appeared before the US Senate Commerce Committee in his
capacity as Director of the US Climate Change Science Program. He presented
testimony on the Administration's November 2002 "Discussion Draft
Strategic Plan" for federal research on climate change, and on
the workshop on the draft plan held in Washington, DC, on 3-5 December
2002. (165KB PDF file)